Matthew 11.28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke
upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The Quakers often ask one another, “How goes it with your soul?” As we begin this journey
together, it’s best to start here. How are you? Where are you? How’s your soul?
Jesus comes to us amid our weariness, brokenness, fear, and doubt and says, “Come to
me...come with me. I’ll give you rest for your soul.”
Jesus knows.
The soul is the central part of our being. It is the truest part of you. It’s the seat of your identity.
The soul is what connects and integrates your whole self – your will (choices), your mind
(thoughts and desires), and your body (appetites and habits) into a single, whole person.
Dallas Willard says your whole life is under the direction and care of your soul.
What is running your life at any given moment is your soul. Not external circumstances,
not your thoughts, not your intentions, not even your feelings, but your soul. The soul is
the aspect of your whole being that correlates, integrates, and enlivens everything going
on in the various dimensions of the self.
The Old Testament reveals that God has a soul.
Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. I will
also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. I am the Lord your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves,
and I broke your yoke and made you walk with heads held high. Leviticus 26.11-13.
God’s soul will not reject you. Think about that for a second…God’s soul will not reject you.
No matter what you’ve done or what you’ve become, God will not reject you and He’s made a
way for you to walk with dignity and honor.
___________
Jesus is God in the flesh with human hands, a human laugh, and a human soul. On earth, His soul longed to stay intimately connected to the soul of His Father. Near the end of His life, Jesus
turned toward the cross.
Knowing He is in His last days, Jesus brings some friends to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray
with and for Him. His posture is described as “sorrowful and troubled.” Matthew’s Gospel
describes the scene this way.
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is
possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. Watch and pray so that you will not fall into
temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be
taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look,
the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Every part of Jesus, body, mind, and soul is aching. He is experiencing anguish that you and I
cannot fathom. He says, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”
The soul of the King of the Cosmos is not at rest.
Jesus asks His friends to stand in God’s presence on His behalf.
Twice, Jesus prays, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink
it, may your will be done.”
This singular repeated prayer is not one of passivity, or futility, or fatalism. Luke’s Gospel says,
“And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling
to the ground” (Luke 22.44).
This is a prayer of absolute desperation for His soul to be completely devoted to God.
Jesus and His friends felt a pain they could have never begun to imagine. The disciples were so
exhausted from sorrow that they fell asleep. Jesus sweats drops of blood.
Amidst the very human temptation of soul rejection and an overwhelming grief, Jesus never
gives up.
In prayer, He wrestles it all down, all the way down, finally and fully coming to the end of
Himself. His most resounding cry is for His Father and His ultimate will to be done. With His
soul now at rest, He stands fearlessly and victoriously in the face of the cross.
__________
Soul rest is not a sacred space reached by higher forms of spirituality. It does not depend on
peaceful circumstances, right relationships, or sinless living.
Soul rest happens in the intermingling of our humanity and our holiness.
Soul rest is an eternal rest offered to you now to receive, just as you are, right where you are.
Rest is a belief, even amidst unbelief, that God is loving, always loving, and even if it may mean
a cross, God’s soul can be trusted.
Questions to Consider:
How goes it with your soul?
Who knows the current condition of your soul?
What is Jesus inviting you into?
Let’s pray with Jesus: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I
will, but as you will.”
Comments